India’s ‘Most Wanted’ was an English teacher in Nepal

Delhi Police said Abdul Subhan Qureshi, founder of Indian Mujahideen and the alleged mastermind behind 2008 Gujarat blasts, was living as an English teacher in Nepal before going to Saudi Arabia in 2015.

Qureshi, an engineer by profession, was very comfortable with the Queen’s language and was teaching in two schools in the Himalayan kingdom.

However, he was not happy to remain as a recluse in Nepal, and wanted to revive Indian Mujahideen.

To raise the required funds, said police sources, Qureshi decided to move to Saudi Arabia for ease of raising money.

He was arrested two days ago after he returned from Saudi Arabia to revive his organization.

PS Kushwaha, DCP in with Special Cell with Delhi Police, said Qureshi came to meet an associate in Ghazipur on the outskirts of Delhi.

He said Qureshi has been in Saudi Arabia since 2015, but came back to India after he was dismayed by the condition of Indian Mujahideen, the local terrorist organization that he created several years ago.

The IM was particularly active in the last 2000s and has taken credit for several big bomb blasts in India.

Kushwaha said Qureshi was from a well-to-do background and was earning a ‘heavy salary’ in private sector. He was well versed with technology and always knew how to cover his tracks well, the DCP said.

Qureshi came to extremism through SIMI or the Students Islamic Movement of India.

Kushwaha said Qureshi was one of the key organizers and chief trainers of four terror camps organized by the SIMI ten years ago, after which the organization itself was banned.

In these camps, said Kushwaha, Qureshi trained cadres for jihad. Cadres were given provided training in using arms, swimming, rock climbing, psychological warfare and in creating Molotov cocktails.

Before reaching Saudi Arabia, Qureshi was in Nepal.

He was arrested after a small firefight two days ago on a tip-off, the DCP said.

There is a reward of Rs 4 lakh on Qureshi’s head as he has been associated with most of the bomb blasts that took place in India in recent years.

He is incriminated in bomb attacks in Ahmedabad in 2008 and blasts in Pune and in Bangalore.